[Amended 3-3-2020 by L.L. No. 2-2020]
A. There is hereby established a Heritage Preservation Commission consisting
of five members serving five-year terms of office. All such members
shall have demonstrated interest, competence or a knowledge of historic
preservation, and, to the extent available within the Town, said members
shall be recruited from the disciplines of history, architectural
history, architecture, archeology, engineering, construction and other
historic-preservation-related professions. Every effort shall be made
to represent each ward of the former Village of Seneca Falls on the
Commission. One Commissioner will preferably be a representative of
the Central or Sackett District as a merchant or property owner.
B. Appointments. Members of the Commission shall be appointed by the
Town Supervisor subject to approval of the Town Board. No person appointed
to the Commission can also serve as a member of the Town Board establishing
the Commission.
C. The Chair shall be elected by the Commission membership at the start
of each official year.
D. Attendance at meetings. Any Commission member missing three consecutive
meetings shall automatically forfeit his or her appointment. Further,
any member missing four meetings in a calendar year, except for major
illness, shall forfeit his or her appointment.
E. Vacancies. Vacancies occurring in the Commission other than by expiration
of term of office shall be filled by appointment of the Town Supervisor,
subject to approval of the Town Board. Any such appointment shall
be for the unexpired portion of the term of the replaced member.
F. Term limits. A member appointed to the Heritage Preservation Commission
may serve no more than two consecutive five-year terms. Two years
after his or her prior service, a former Heritage Preservation Commission
member may again be considered for appointment to the Heritage Preservation
Commission.
G. The Town Board of the Town of Seneca Falls, New York, may, in any
year it deems necessary, appoint temporary ad hoc members to the Heritage
Preservation Commission to serve as provided in this section. The
number of temporary members so appointed pursuant to this section
in any year shall not exceed three. Each temporary member shall be
appointed for a one-year term of office. The Chair of the Heritage
Preservation Commission shall assign the temporary members as necessary
when absence of regular members of the Commission or a conflict of
interest of regular members of the Commission would otherwise prevent
a full complement of the Commission from considering any pending matter.
No more than two temporary members shall sit in determination on any
pending matter. The temporary members shall be designated on a rotating
basis in the manner provided in the general governing rules of the
Heritage Preservation Commission so that each temporary member shall
be afforded an equal opportunity to serve. Once designated to serve
on a particular matter before the Commission, the temporary member
shall have the same powers and duties as a regular member of the Commission
for the duration of the meeting at which they are appointed. Any determination
by the Commission consisting of temporary members shall have the same
weight and be entitled to the same authority as the act or deed of
the regular Heritage Preservation Commission, and all laws, statutes
and regulations shall apply and be applied with equal force and effect.
All provisions of this Town Code and New York State Law relating to
member training and continuing education, attendance, conflict of
interest, compensation, eligibility, vacancy in office, removal, and
service on other boards, shall also apply to alternate members.
[Amended 2-7-2023 by L.L. No. 1-2023]
Because of the irreversible nature of demolitions and the potential
loss to the community of significant historic structures, the following
shall apply to all applications for demolition:
A. The waiting period contained in Chapter
173, Historic Preservation, §
173-9, shall apply.
B. The decision of the Commission shall be based on the pertinent historical
significance, economic viability of alternate use to demolition, present
condition of the structure, public comment, future plans for the property,
the relationship of the affected parcel to its surrounding parcels
and other local factors within the Historic District.